


Arcadia's Ghosts

by CanadianSummer



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Insomnia, Post Sacrifice Bay, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5187251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanadianSummer/pseuds/CanadianSummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Max let out a small sigh, leaning her head against Chloe's shoulder. The two remained like that for a few more minutes, Chloe's presence soothing her a little more. She really felt the effects of her days of little sleep at that moment. </p>
<p>“...Do you regret it? Choosing me?” </p>
<p>Max lifted her head up a little to look at Chloe, the girl's eyes wet as she stared back at her. Max could practically see her heart in her throat."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arcadia's Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first go at a Life is Strange fanfic, so I'm sorry if I don't quite get the characters down. I was also aiming for a more serious Max and Chloe in this, so I'm sorry if they come across as too serious. I wrote this at three in the morning last night, too, so. Haha. I'm also not sure if I'm keeping this as is or not, but we'll see. 
> 
> Anyway, any feedback is welcomed. c:

The first night was admittedly easier to fall asleep.

Maybe it had been the fact that she had been exhausted, that they had been far enough away from the destruction of Arcadia Bay, that Max had crashed when they found a semi-decent motel. After that, even with all the driving, there had been a steady decline in her sleep, in both hours and quality. Either she slept and was plagued by nightmares, or she didn't sleep at all. Chloe was always supportive, rarely complained when Max would shoot out of bed, sometimes yelling or just taking in quick and panicked breaths. Would sometimes just give her sympathetic looks when she would wake up in the middle of the night and still see Max awake. Only said something once when Max kicked her and hit her while she was asleep.

Still, they never really talked about the town that they left behind. Max wondered if Chloe struggled with it as much as she did, and in a way she kind of knew that she was effected. Chloe just dealt with it in different ways.

Yet, as Max lay awake in another motel, she couldn't help but think back. What about Warren? Kate? Victoria? Nathan, even? Were they all bodies under debris? Was everybody she ever knew, shared words with or glanced at in the hallways or in the street, dead? Did some people survive and start to rebuild? Realistically, it was a possibility, but going back wasn't something she felt prepared to do just yet. If ever. Max and Chloe avoided all news they could of the town. Max had been tempted a number of times to ask Chloe about Joyce and David, but she didn't want to bring them up too soon. They hadn't seen anybody while driving out of Arcadia Bay, no bodies, thankfully, but didn't see anybody alive either. Driving by the debris of the town was very...heavy. All the buildings reduced to rubble, the emptiness. Yet, it was almost refreshing. After everything that happened, her powers, Chloe dying so many times, the drama and scandal at Blackwell, what happened to Max while in the Dark Room-

The thought of her old photography teacher made her stomach twist, and Max struggled cast the thought away as she sat up in bed. She just wanted to stop _thinking_ all together. Chloe was asleep beside her, she had seemed to have a hard time falling asleep as well, but she at least got to that point. Max had yet to get there, was almost scared to with how preoccupied her mind had been with the past. The air in the motel was cool and it was somewhat soothing from being under the blankets with Chloe, Max standing to her feet as quietly as she could.

She picked up her phone and made her way towards the door, gently opening it before stepping outside, leaving it open a little bit. The cement of the second floor was cool under her feet, the area a little to light for it to still be night, but it was still extremely early. Max looked down at her phone, checking the time as well as noticing that she had a new message. Every one made her heart race just a little faster, sometimes so badly that her hands would shake, fearing that she would get a 'why did you let me die?' text from someone. That was a familiar nightmare, yet most of the time it was her parents. Wanted her to return home immediately after she had assured them that she was fine and that she wasn't in town when the tornado hit, but she never replied to those messages.

With a small sigh she noticed that it was her mother.

_'I hope that you are well. Please call us soon, Max. Don't ignore this.'_

“What are you doing out here, Max? It's really early.”

The sudden voice made her jump, Max nearly dropping her phone. She took in a breath, wanting to snap at her girlfriend about sneaking up on her for a few moments, but she held her tongue. Chloe didn't mean to, she felt bad whenever she would, but it always set Max on edge.

“I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry Chloe, did I wake you?”

“It's cool. I can't really, either,” she replied, crossing her arms after stepping outside a little bit. Max just nodded her head, looking back out at the somewhat empty parking lot of the motel, a few cars scattered here and there.

Chloe looked tired, still wearing the crumpled clothes from the day before, but every time Max got look at her, there was selfish relief at the fact that she was still with her. That she could wrap her arms around her, feel here there. Yet, that guilt gripped at her, reminded her that she's only there because she had let a tornado rip apart the town. That a number of deaths were on their heads. There was also a smaller, quieter part of her that was warning her about her powers. Don't use them unless it's an emergency. If she was truly the cause of the destruction in Arcadia Bay, it could follow her back if she just used it whenever a small issue would crop up. The thought of more deaths...If she would be with Chloe or her parents...

“So, where are we headed? I knew we kind of just drove in any direction, but money'll run short if we aren't careful.”

Max blinked, pulling herself out of her head again, pushing herself off the side of the building a little bit, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Mom and Dad want me to come visit them,” Max said simply, glancing up at Chloe.

“Seattle, right? We could try there if you wanted.”

“It's really the only place,” she said, letting out a small sigh. Chloe watched her for a few moments before she pressed her hand against her shoulder, rubbing in a soothing manner.

“You...You can talk to me, y'know. It's hard and seeing you like this is...” Chloe trailed off, Max nodding her head. She wanted to tell Chloe everything that was on her mind, just dump it all out, but she couldn't do that. She couldn't put that on Chloe.

She couldn't blame her. She would never. Really, Max blamed and beat herself up over it. Again and again. The figures in her nightmares had no issues calling her a murderer.

“I'm having nightmares,” she decided on after a few moments, “Just of...the tornado and...what happened with Jefferson.”

“That's normal, Max. I used to have nightmares about my...dad, too, and sometimes I get them too about...everything,” Chloe explained, sounding like she would have rather just not said anything at all, Max nodding her head in understanding. Max let out a small sigh, leaning her head against Chloe's shoulder. The two remained like that for a few more minutes, Chloe's presence soothing her a little more. She really felt the effects of her days of little sleep at that moment.

“...Do you regret it? Choosing me?”

Max lifted her head up a little to look at Chloe, the girl's eyes wet as she stared back at her. Max could practically see her heart in her throat.

“No,” Max said, shaking her head. It was true, she didn't.

She hated feeling that way.

People were dead, possibly the whole town, and Max had picked Chloe. She would do it again to keep Chloe with her, but it didn't stop her from wondering. The guilt, the trauma, and pain were very hard to deal with, but in the end she would rather be with Chloe, living off motels and junk food, while having nightmares and flashbacks than being alone and having to deal with those things. To have Chloe buried underground and Max being the only one who remembered everything.

It didn't help ease the idea of her having a death toll, though. She guessed Chloe did, too, but it had been Max's decision in the end. Chloe had been ready to sacrifice herself, and Max couldn't help but wonder if she wished that she had gone back through the photo.

Chloe didn't say anything, though Max felt her hand wrap around hers. Her eyes were still wet, from tiredness or tears, Max couldn't tell. Still, the sides of her mouth lifted up slightly when she caught her gaze, and it made her heart squeeze. It looked forced, and Max couldn't blame her. Chloe wasn't oblivious to what happened and the consequences of her choice, but Max just hoped that she was secretly relieved to be there with her.

That's so fucked up, she thought to herself as she looked away from her. Still, she loved Chloe and she couldn't rewind and take it back.

She wouldn't, even if she had the choice to. That fact made her stomach twist, the knot only tightening.

“C'mon, we still got some time to sleep,” Chloe said, gently pulling her along by the hand. Max knew that she wouldn't sleep, but the idea of cuddling up to Chloe and letting her mind go quiet for a bit was worth the tired headache that was building in her skull.

Chloe was always worth it.

_Careful. Think that too much and it might stop being a promise._

 


End file.
